Cornucopia
Page 81
PART EIGHT
TRANS-SIBERIAN
“We Chinese have never had much love for Russia,” Lao Wu told Kennedy. “Let me tell you a little about Imperial Russia’s colonial expansion eastward, how we were forced to cede the Far East and parts of Siberia to the czars … the Amur Basin and Vladivostok … in different treaties, then Outer Manchuria in the Treaty of Peking in 1860.”
Kennedy, who had always been fascinated by history, was often disturbed by how little he knew about the world beyond what was defined in Irish schools, at least when he was a lad: an endless reiteration of Anglo-Irish history, and an Anglo-centric view of the world. He didn’t doubt it was the same thing in schools elsewhere, but regretted the reduction such an approach induced in young minds, ideas that remained, for most people, fixed for the rest of their lives.
“You see after the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks saw us as part of their Komintern expansion. They called the shots and fomented revolution, which by the way was started here in Canton. It was here Sun Yat-Sen and the revolutionary movement set up their base.
“Lenin believed that the Russian Revolution could not survive without Communist revolutions in other countries, which in turn would become allies of the Soviet Union. However, from his own experience, he realised that in economically backward countries, which at that time Russia was, revolutionary leaders were not workers or peasants, but rather middle class intellectuals, the base of the bourgeois establishment. So Lenin based his plans on the support of bourgeois nationalism in imperialist dominated countries like China was at that time, which explained his interest in Sun Yat-Sen’s Kuomintang nationalist movement.”
“Kuomintang?”
“Yes, the nationalist party… three words: Kuo, or guo in pinyin, means nation, country; min, the people; and tang, party. Nation, people, party: KMT.”
Pat nodded tucking the words into his memory for future use.
“Sun Yat-Sen’s primary goal was the reunification of his country, and for that he needed help, so after being rejected by the imperial powers, he turned to Komintern. So you see, from the early twenties the Soviet Union supported his revolutionary movement, they provided Sun with military and political assistance and helped him to build his organization.
“It was like that the first Russian mission arrived in China in 1920, and in 1923 they set up base here in Canton, which became the KMT’s capital. where under Michael Borodin’s direction, the Whampoa Military Academy was founded.”
“I see.”
“The Academy’s commander was Chiang Kai-Shek,” Wu added with a knowing smile, a fact which was lost on Pat as he struggled with the names.
“Komintern’s press and propaganda department was headed by Mao Zedong. At the same time another future Communist leader, Zhou Enlai, was starting out at the Whampoa Military Academy, which by the way is just down the river from us here in Shamian,” he said pointing outside, “they set up the academy, on Whampoa Island,1 that’s where we now hold the Canton Fair.
The Canton Fair made sense to Pat.
“So you see the Russians succeeded in penetrating the entire structure of the KMT. But it didn’t last long, unfortunately for them their plans collapsed and the Chinese Communists massacred. A humiliating defeat for Stalin and his plans to draw China into the Soviet orbit, temporarily that is.”
“What happened to Borodin? Asked Pat, vaguely confusing the revolutionary with the composer of Prince Igor.”
“Borodin died in 1951, in a labour camp near Yakutsk in Siberia.”
Momentarily Pat thought of Tarasov and the fate that awaited him if he returned to Moscow.
“The Communist Revolution in 1949 was what really changed everything in Hong Kong,” Lao Wu continued, “A great many Mainland Chinese businessmen and refugees fled to the British colony. Then the British imposed a boycott, which meant Hong Kong was cut off from the Mainland. That’s when our family developed its business there, we brought in money and built textile factories and the refugees provided cheap labour, helping Hong Kong to survive.”
Whatever. Pat understood revolutions were complicated. But the fact remained that Mao had won: China was still Communist, but in a form the Great Helmsman could have never imagined, even in his wildest dreams.
Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek (standing behind Sun)
The same went for Vietnam, Pat thought, Ho Chin Min had won the war and lost the peace. Uncle Ho had all but been consigned to history, like Mao Zedong, almost legendary symbols of nationalism and independence, embalmed mummies, forgotten by societies more concerned by the pursuit of work, wealth and happiness in their capitalist consumer world.
“So you see Pat history is very complicated, especially that of China, where we adore money, but where, paradoxically, the Communist Party rules with nearly ninety million members.”
“Yes, like my country, I mean Irish history is complicated, but things are on a smaller scale of course.”
“Yes, everything in China is big.”
“Of course … we also have fewer Communists,” added Pat.
They both laughed.
Old Wu re-served Pat with cold tea.
“Our trouble today is corruption, I’m sorry to say it’s rife. Officials, wherever they are, have used their position to fill their pockets. I should not say this, but here in China corruption is very a family business. It’s almost become normal for those in a position of power to steal, using their families as a façade to hide their dishonest gains.”
“Our family money has come from industry and investment, of course we have used our influence, who hasn’t. But common corruption is everywhere and its scale becomes visible whenever things go wrong, industrial disasters and the like.”
1. Huangpu on the Jujiang River in Canton